Sep 25, 2024
Generative AI: Moving Beyond the Hype (and the Marketing) to Unlock Its Full Potential as a Business Leader
Artificial intelligence
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, generative artificial intelligence has come to transform your lives and shake up the way you do things. Original content creation, intelligent search, automatic document analysis, customer service agents... Have you taken the time to look at the possibilities and identify where it could be helpful in your company?
A Gartner survey reveals that companies that successfully integrate generative AI in their processes report an average 15.8% increase in sales, a 15.2% reduction in costs and a 22.6% improvement in productivity.
Interesting fact: only 11% of companies have adopted generative AI, according to McKinsey Digital's latest technology trends study. Yes, the challenges of deploying it on a large scale and a general misunderstanding of the technology could explain this low level of adoption. Companies need to reorganize how they operate to realize the full potential of generative AI.
To give you as much perspective as possible, we even asked our AI Scientists to explain what companies should consider before starting a generative AI project! As a bonus, we will also tell you about quick-win projects and the importance of proofs of concept.
What are we talking about?
The buzz around generative AI - and why you should care.
The buzz around generative AI is growing, and for good reason. Believe us when we tell you that generative AI is an extremely powerful tool! Whether in customer service, content creation, or the automation of repetitive and time-consuming tasks, this revolutionary technology is redefining the way we work and interact with the world.
But the impact of generative AI continues beyond there. It drives innovation by analyzing large amounts of data and proposing creative solutions, leading to the creation of innovative products and services. Whether it's developing new medicines, creating innovative designs, or optimizing industrial processes, generative AI can be applied across all industries and departments of a company, offering incredible potential.
Why are we telling you this? Ignoring this technology will lead you to miss out on major opportunities for growth and competitiveness.
Why does it matter?
Deploying AI is a strategic opportunity, not a cost!
The high costs associated with integrating AI into business processes often scare CFOs, who need precise numbers to ensure they maximize ROI. However, we invite you to change your view; this is an opportunity. Rather than seeing AI as a mere expense, think of it as a catalyst for innovation and growth.
While figures and results may vary from project to project, deploying generative AI always delivers significant returns on investment, whether as a direct result of the project or its impacts. For example, using generative AI to analyze complex data enables better, faster decisions, resulting in improved overall performance over several years.
74% of companies that have invested in this direction see a return on investment in various forms. And what's more, 84% of companies succeeded in implementing their idea in less than 6 months!
Tomorrow is now. Companies that integrate this technology into their strategy today will reap the benefits for a long time, strengthening their competitiveness on the market.
What does this mean?
Business leaders need to stop thinking of AI as just another technology.
In fact, AI has become a key driver of innovation in many sectors. Do you want to know the truth? It's time to get ahead of your competitors.
CTOs must become true conductors of innovation within the company. They must not only master emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, but also inspire and guide their teams to integrate these technologies strategically. Rather than seeking to automate employees' work, they need to help them improve their work in terms of quality and efficiency.
By playing this central role, they foster collaboration, align technology initiatives with overall business goals, and enable employees to free up time in their schedules to be more creative.
Vooban insights:
What to consider before embarking on a generative AI project - pieces of advice from an AI Scientist.
First of all, you need to identify a concrete problem that justifies the use of AI. In other words, start by identifying the problem, then see what AI can solve. Basically, you don't want to fall into the technology trip trap. AI needs to solve a specific issue or bring tangible benefits to be worth the investment in time and resources, which brings us to our second point.
Resources. Integrating generative AI models into business processes isn't as simple as going on ChatGPT. Ensure you have the time, the staff and the funds before you take the leap. Be well supported.
Above all, you need to be sure that the use case has a significant return on investment for the company. If the ROI potential is low or uncertain, it may be wiser to concentrate resources on more promising projects. That's why, at Vooban, we calculate a project's projected ROI even before proof of concept!
Quick wins
As a guide, here are two examples of generative AI projects that are very low-risk, secure regarding internally shared data, and enable employees to increase their efficiency.
Smart search tool:
The information your employees are looking for may be scattered across several documents from different sources. The enormous amount of time they lose searching for something can quickly be erased by the creation of an intelligent search tool. This system can take a form similar to ChatGPT and answer user queries in real-time, whether it's a work policy or a process to follow when repairing a piece of equipment in a factory.
Automatic classification of inputs:
This solution uses speech recognition to convert verbal comments into text. This text is then analyzed and automatically classified into the appropriate category. For example, an employee on a construction site needing extra hard hats could leave a voice note to this effect. This would be classified under the “Equipment” category and automatically integrated into the inventory management system, reducing the workload for managers by automating these administrative tasks.
Do you want to be ahead of the parade or behind it?
Yes, technology offers infinite possibilities, but it also has its limits. Some ideas may be technically unfeasible with current technologies. It's important to assess feasibility before diving right into them.
Want to innovate? We encourage you to invest in proof of concept. Test your ideas, define goals and ROI, and reduce your project's risks. Sometimes, reducing risk means abandoning a project. In full disclosure, following an inconclusive proof of concept, we have sometimes decided not to go ahead with a project.
That being said, research continues to advance at a frenetic pace. What we cannot achieve today may be possible in six months. This is precisely why we recommend proof-of-concept: stay ahead of the parade and test cutting-edge solutions!
Do you have a project in mind that you would like to discuss in more detail? We're here to help. Contact us or register to our next webinar on Gen AI on October 17th.
